Prosser Job Fair

Hello everyone! Long time no blog. I just wanted to post an update regarding the job fair that Rae and I attended last week. The Prosser High School job fair was a great way to meet unemployed and underemployed workers in Chicagoland. I got to hear the stories and concerns of many people while encouraging them to join U-Cubed (http://www.unionofunemployed.com/) and The Unemployed Workers Council to help combat this unemployment problem. While I was optimistic by the turnout and the people who signed up and took our fliers, it has not translated into new people on U-Cubed.
It was interesting to be a part of a job fair that was partly sponsored by Wal-Mart (http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/walmart-seeks-new-workers-through-job-fair-20100722) and that was attended by Mayor Daley and Emma Mitts, who are strong supporters of Wal-Mart and anti-living wage. Though no Wal-Mart bashing was part of my spiel, I did focus on telling people how through U-Cubed and The Unemployed Workers Council we can demand "good paying jobs." It seemed to be clear that most people were concerned with being able to support themselves and a family.
One gentleman's story was perfect example of how low wage jobs are killing us. He had to work three jobs in order to support his family, and because he worked three jobs there was little if any time for rest causing a disorder in his body. The disorder prohibited him from working again and put him on disability. It is stories like these that should anger us and make us demand something be done. With low paying jobs like Wal-Mart we will all be doomed to the same fate as this man.

"Enough is Enough!"

On Thursday, we attended an action at the Hyatt Regency Chicago to demand justice for the workers of that hotel (and at Hyatts across the country). This struggle began when housekeeping staff at a Hyatt in Boston were forced to train temps who they were told were going to be on standby to sub in during the holiday season. All of them (approx. 100) were subsequently fired after having trained their own replacements. When workers at the Hyatt in Chicago were threatened with the same fate if they did not agree to concessions (wage cuts, benefit cuts, etc), the community decided to step up to say "Enough is enough!" Check out pics from the event below, and see more in our photo album on our Facebook page.

For a Few Dollars More

As we watched the two construction workers go knock on the door of their former employer’s residence along with the Arise leaders, we didn’t know quite what to expect. This man has stiffed them several thousand dollars and has since rebuffed their attempts to confront him on this issue, defying a court order he signed agreeing to pay up.

Would it be different this time because they were now at his front door, with several community allies with them, including a Methodist reverend? Or would they get the door slammed in their face?

Well, it was different. And they didn’t get the door slammed in their face, but their old boss was not there either. Instead, they got to speak with his wife, who was quite unaware of the situation. In her, they actually got a decent audience, as she listened, asked questions, and eyed the rest of us on the sidewalk, who were wearing giant digits on our chests, showing the number “$4,000,” the amount of wages yet to be paid to these workers. They were able to show the wife the court document with her husband’s signature on it, promising to pay. (The workers had actually accommodated his claims of financial hardship by agreeing to accept the backwages in smaller installments, but even these were forthcoming).

It proved to be a very civil exchange, but it’s not everyday that people show up at your door informing you that your spouse is defying the law by withholding thousands of dollars in wages from his employees! So, I’m sure he is hearing about it from her, and that may prove to be a more effective means of getting through than we could have otherwise planned. The two workers seemed encouraged by the exchange, and I hope that sustains them at a time when they need their wages the most.

Meanwhile, we will continue to work for justice by discerning what our next steps are. A possible path to explore is how this employer may be held in contempt of court for his defiance. He and too many employers who, like him, steal wages, are certainly in contempt of their workers, our communities, and according to many of our faith traditions, the living God:

Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is one of your countrymen or is a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
-Deuteronomy 24:14-15

Community is Family

Last night as part of my time with ChicagoACTS (Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff) I attended the meeting of the 22^nd Ward Independent Precinct Organization at the Catedral Café. The back room at the Catedral Café was packed, standing room only, with a diverse group of people. Many of them had come to conduct the business of this 27 year-old progressive organization, others, like myself, came to hear Karen Lewis, the newly elected president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) IFT/AFT Local 1 – AFL-CIO. Karen Lewis brought down the house, she began her speech by stating that when the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Board of Education closed a school they had never even visited, they weren’t just closing a building, they were destroying a community, and in turn they were destroying a family. “Community is family” she stated, “and that’s something they don’t understand.”

The “they” Karen Lewis was referring to are the “business people” who, through their donations of money and their elevation by elected officials, were rapidly changing our schools to reflect the values and sensibilities of Wall Street. In the process, Karen Lewis spoke, they were de-professionalizing teaching, and creating a system where any individual could come in and teach school for three/four years and then move on to something "better" - leaving their students behind. The cynics among us would state that when Karen Lewis was speaking, she was speaking to defend her and her members jobs, but I can tell you that sitting in that audience I saw a woman who was a life long educator, deeply committed to her students, and enraged by what she saw was being done to her pupils by the recent crop of education reform “gurus” – individuals that have never step foot in a classroom or graded an exam.

I believe, like Karen Lewis and the folks at ChicagoACTS believe, that if you truly want to reform our educational system we need to turn to those with the expertise and the know-how – the professional educators that know how to manage and teach a class. It is they who understand that a school isn't a business - it's a community. Until we listen to their voices, effective educational reform will not take place in the U.S. In the coming months the battle over educational reform is sure to intensify, in that battle I know where I stand - with the educators, students, and parents - the family that, if empowered and given the opportunity, will bring success to our schools.

Learning How to Protect Workers

Recently, we went to hear Prof. Stephen Ashby of the University of Illinois speak to us about labor history (from about the last 60 years). In his presentation, he told us that the United States has the worst labor laws of almost any developed country. Although many of us take for granted that we have an 8-hour workday and vacation and sick day benefits, there are no laws that guarantee us these conditions so essential to a healthy work environment. This is what I told a family friend when she asked me why laborers are striking in Illinois- because they want contracts. "But they already have contracts, don't they?" she said. I answered that they did, but those contracts had expired, and the contract is the only thing that truly protects workers.

This is why I have developed an interest in working in the labor movement from the legislative/lobbying side. I have learned that we have so much progress to make in this country towards truly protecting workers. The antagonism that happens between employers and workers trying to unionize could perhaps be alleviated if we had laws that guaranteed workers some of the things they fight for in their contracts. While community organizations like ARISE Chicago (mentioned below in the post by my fellow intern Paul) can fight for workers on a grassroots level, and while sometimes workers do have legal victories like the recent court decision regarding Chicago's Blackstone Hotel, I feel passionate about working towards protecting them on a legislative level. This has pushed me to look into masters programs in Labor and Employment Relations like the one at the University of Illinois. Hopefully with further education I will be able to pursue a career that allows me to make a difference in the lives of workers from the top down.

A Fistful of Dollars

In a few days I’m going to have a chance to look economic injustice right in the face: a local construction contractor who has refused to pay two of his employees for $8,000 worth of work.

This is but one instance of the widespread problem of wage theft, which occurs in a variety of ways and goes widely unnoticed. Not surprisingly, the workers who can least afford it are the ones most vulnerable to it. This is not a coincidence - it is simply one of the more egregious expressions of the power imbalance that exists between employers and employees in our society.

Of course, being a part of a union is the strongest way to protect against this and other labor violations, since labor law enforcement is sporadic and penalties are too weak to serve as a deterrent. However, with so many workers lacking the protection of a union, another avenue is needed to secure the fruits of their labors, legally owed them by contract.

Enter worker centers, which provide education, advocacy, and community support for workers at the margins of our economy. A local Chicago chapter I am becoming familiar with is the Arise Chicago worker center, run by a fantastic team of persons dedicated to seeing workers secure justice. Since 2002, for example, they have won over $3.6 million in unpaid wages, workers’ compensation, and discrimination claims.

And this week I’ll be helping them win back a few thousand dollars more by confronting this contractor at his place of business with the two construction workers and a delegation of community allies that will include local clergy members. It should be noted that the legal channels have already run their course here: this employer has already been ordered by a local court to pay up and yet still has not. This is why such community action with workers is so crucial: it fills the gap between law and justice. It empowers workers by showing them they are not isolated and instead isolates the employer in his injustice by showing him community members will not stand for it.

Hence, I’m excited to have a chance to help rally such community support by reaching out to local clergy, some of whom may be used to this kind of work and some of whom may find this a fresh change of pace from their usual ministry rhythms. I am hoping their presence tips the scales here for these two workers, who have already worked so hard to secure their wages.

Stay tuned for part 2…

Feminist/Unionist

Feminist and Unionist.
I am both of these things and I have been exploring the intersectionality of the two since the beginning of the internship. For example, when we speak with labor historians, I like to ask where the women were because, as a feminist, it is my job to uncover the voices of those oft forgotten in the struggle.

I have tried to find resources that lift up the voices of women in the labor movement this summer. These stories have been inspiring and show the true spirit of the movement.

Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors and her first book is a true story, a work of non-fiction, called Holding The Line: Women In The Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983. My father grew up in Arizona and he remembers the strike in and around the Morenci Phelps Dodge mines. Kingsolver highlights the women who stretched the dollar to make strike wages last, women who worked in the mines alongside their husbands, and especially the women who did not back down and held the line in the strike that lasted for many years. In the quest for better wages, equal employment, a safe workplace, and dignity, the women in the Morenci strike embody why it is so important to stand with the union.

Another intersection of feminism and unionism that I love is a song I heard last year at an Ani DiFranco concert. I already played it for my fellow interns but now I will share it with you! It's an updated version of "Which Side Are You On?" originally written by Florence Reese, a wife of a miner.



The labor movement is filled with all kinds of people from every kind of background. During a panel with Union Summer alumni, one alum noted that working in the labor movement made a lot of sense because of the number and diversity of people who work..."Everybody works," she said. It's true. In just a short amount of time working for the AFL-CIO, I have seen "UNION YES" stickers on all kinds of cars and shaken the hands of workers from many different industries. The thing that brings people together is the solidarity and power a union brings.

Campaign Update: Union 101

Over the past 40 years, the precipitous drop in the number of America's unionized workers (i.e. workers that are united, empowered, and protected by a contract) has meant many things for Americans. It has meant that overall we are working more, making less, and that overwhelmingly Americans have no idea what a union is or what a union does. On face this final point may not seem as pressing as abusive workplace policies, arbitrary firings, or unfair wages, but it is equally responsible for the exploitation of American workers. The lack of knowledge among American workers on what a union is and what a union does has meant that those interested in increasing profits on the backs of their workers and dis-empowering them in the workplace have been very successful in painting unions as something unnecessary, or even worse, bad. While I've always had a positive view of unions (as a result of actually understanding what it is that they do and how they work) the past month as a Union Summer Intern has given me even further insight of what unions are.

When I think of a union the following words come to mind: democracy, community, unity, civil rights, economic justice, grassroots.

What words come to your mind?

My lunch break at Chicago ACTS (Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff) is about to be over soon, and I've yet to eat lunch, so I'll catch up with you all later!

Cheers sisters and brothers!

Campaign Update: Anthony Scorzo

Happy holiday weekend everyone! As we celebrate our independence this weekend, we should honor those who have died serving our country. Not only the soldiers overseas, but also the workers here at home who fought for many of the things we take for granted.

While working people in this country are facing some of the hardest times ever-layoffs, foreclosures, and homelessness, D.C. fails to help yet again. Millions of Americans are losing their benefits and the Senate once again has failed to pass an extension. Wall Street and big corporations have recovered already, but the people of this country haven't.

There is hope, however. We know there is power in numbers, and the numbers of the unemployed are growing everyday. Through projects like U-Cubed and The Unemployed Workers' Council, unemployed workers can share resources, network, and demand that our politicians start working for us.

U-Cubed is an online social networking tool for unemployed workers to build neighborhoods in their cities and help each other through this rough time. The Unemployed Workers' Council is working to organize the unemployed and anxiously employed so that we can share our resources, form a barter system, and demand government pass unemployment extensions and a jobs bill. By canvassing unemployment offices and protesting at our elected officials' offices, we are spreading the message that jobs need to be created now.

During the Great Depression, unemployed workers joined together as a support group, and today we want to implement the same kind of support. Together, these resources will bring the working poor together through these desperate times. There are plans for a march on Washington for jobs, so stay tuned for more updates!

Campaign Update: Working People Helping Working People

Hello sisters and brothers! Carlos here again with an update from the front!

What front? The most important battle front of course. Iraq? Afghanistan? No, those certainly are costing us a ton of money, but I’m talking about the battle front that’s right next door (if not in your own home) - the battle for economic justice in our nation.

For the past two weeks Paul and I have been stationed with AFSCME Council 31 (bouncing back and forth between their Northwest Chicagoland office and their downtown office). In these two shorts weeks I’ve learned a ton. First, I’ve learned that union organizing is a lot more strategic and difficult than movies like Bread & Roses and Norma Rae would have you believe (and those movies don't exactly make organizing appear easy). Second, I’ve learned that folks looking to organize their workplace with AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) have some great people working on their behalf in AFSCME Council 31. It’s this second point that has truly impacted me the most. In the past when I thought of an organizing campaign I conceptualized the union as an outside entity coming in and uplifting the workers, this isn’t the case at all with AFSCME. My time with AFSCME Council 31 has taught me that a good organizing campaign is one that is worker driven. At AFSCME Council 31 it is the brave working women and men who initiate the campaign at their workplace and serve on the organizing committee that are truly the heartbeat of the campaign. The most astounding thing is that these brave women and men aren’t alone – they have the professional and seasoned organizers of AFSCME Council 31 behind them. Through the union dues of existing AFSCME members, workers attempting to organize are provided with a team of strategists, researchers, and lawyers. A clear example of solidarity at work!

Road Workers on Strike

Today, road workers in Illinois went on strike to demand contracts. Walking around downtown, I noticed small groups on several different blocks, standing with their signs. As I passed two workers sitting in an alcove together, a man coming the other direction leaned over and yelled, "What are you striking for? You're making all the money in the world!" They looked so disheartened that I stopped to tell them I supported them and understood what they were doing.

As this internship has developed, and as we have learned more about the labor movement, it has been brought to my attention several times that the image of labor and unions as corrupt and bureaucratic is common in the minds of the American public. Opinions like the one expressed by this man are a major obstacle for us, the next generation of the labor movement. When you are already passionate about a cause, the right thing to do and the right side to support in a conflict (e.g., the strikers in this situation) seem so obvious. Yet it should not be unexpected to face disapproval and opposition, in public and even from people close to us.

This struggle to balance our desire for change with the inevitable truth that lack of knowledge about labor seems to create hostility rather than interest is something I think we all have yet to decide how to reconcile. When the baton is passed, we will inherit not only a movement but a PR nightmare in people's minds that stands in the way of progress. But I think what keeps us going is the feeling you get when you see workers holding signs, or march in a picket line, or chant together in a protest. As we've been told many times, we're doing good work. And it is that satisfaction we go home with every day, even when the odds are against us.

I let that man go instead of stopping to correct him. He probably would not have wanted to hear what I had to say anyway. Instead, I turned to those workers and I told them they were not alone. Because, ultimately, we chose this job for the simple reason that we want to stand with them.